Continuing BN's look back at the Conference Play-Offs, and a day after the first leg which ended Stevenage 1 Hereford 1.
An article about the finances of the two teams:
Why is the Turnover at Stevenage so high?
A
detailed look at the latest Stevenage Borough accounts suggest that
outside money is propping up the club. And when compared with the latest
Hereford United accounts, there are several differences which are worth
reporting.
In brief, the turnover at Stevenage for the period to
May 2004 was £1,799,635, a rise of £400,000 over the previous year
(Hereford's turnover was £1,078,859) Where the income comes from is not
detailed but gate money can't come to as much as Hereford last season as
the average attendance at Broadway Hall was only 2002. At Edgar Street
the average was 3704.
As the gate receipts at Hereford were
reported as £586,882, it has to be assumed that those at Stevenage are
unlikely to be more than £400,000. Gate receipts at Hereford are about
55% of turnover, so assuming those at Stevenage are much the same it
suggests a turnover of less than £1 million.
Questions therefore may be asked as to where the rest, around £750,000, of turnover comes from.
On
the expenditure side, the wages paid at Stevenage are twice that at
Hereford. Figures say that wages are £1,013,979 for the Hertfordshire
club whereas only £543,780 was spent at Edgar Street. The Stevenage
squad is currently five or six players bigger than Hereford's.
Administrative
expenses at Stevenage are stated at £187,711 against £140,612 at
Hereford.But perhaps the biggest difference in the club is the
comparison in the "cost of sales".
At Stevenage they report
£1,662,415 and at Hereford £705,798. That is a difference of over
£18,000 per week in the cost of running the club!
Finally from
the accounts Stevenage report a loss of £110,791 whereas Hereford report
a profit of £292,162 which did include a contribution of £138,750 from
transfer fees.
The Stevenage chairman, Phil Wallace, is the top shareholder with 90% of the
shares in Stevenage. Their report also says that the directors acknowledge the year end deficit... and will continue to support financially the company.
It
has to be assumed that the directors at Stevenage bailed out their club
to the tune of around £750,000 last season. They must be rich men.